Nebraska 54, Illinois 35 POSTGAME
Those muffed punts were killer. Think they got 14 points off those. Just catch the damn ball and who knows what happens. Reggie being hurt certainly didn’t help either.
Likes:
IlliniinIowa and mini30fan
Except for special teams, they played better than I expected. Should have been closer.
Nebraska isn’t your typical 2 win team... much like Purdue they’re a better team than they’re record.
Likes:
krushdad and KevinC
Exactly. So close but so dang far away. These games are so infuriating because it is just constant what-ifs on the basics
This did feel improved from Purdue and Maryland for a glass half full. I’ve been nervous about Nebraska - they are a top statistical offense in the Big10 and I was having a hard time convincing myself we could hold them under 50
Northwestern and Iowa are ranked towards bottom in offense. (To be fair so was Maryland). We should get a few more stops against them - if we can clean up the dumb stuff and keep scoring the matchup should be better.
I just want Lovie to keep them playing and try to save face these last two - keep them competitive through 4Qs and surprise us with a win vs the Kitties
This did feel improved from Purdue and Maryland for a glass half full. I’ve been nervous about Nebraska - they are a top statistical offense in the Big10 and I was having a hard time convincing myself we could hold them under 50
Northwestern and Iowa are ranked towards bottom in offense. (To be fair so was Maryland). We should get a few more stops against them - if we can clean up the dumb stuff and keep scoring the matchup should be better.
I just want Lovie to keep them playing and try to save face these last two - keep them competitive through 4Qs and surprise us with a win vs the Kitties
Lovie Smith undeterred from long-term plan at Illinois despite Year 2 struggles
Lovie Smith undeterred from long-term plan at Illinois despite Year 3 struggles
Lovie Smith undeterred from long-term plan at Illinois despite Year 3 struggles
No excuse for Lovie to quit on the team today! His defense is bad and he needs to swallow some pride and hire a defensive coordinator that can teach and scheme a defense that actually can stop college football offenses. This bend but don’t break cover 2 crap doesn’t work when you don’t have elite NFL caliber Uber-athletes manning every position. Lovie is a great guy/figure head/father figure kind of head coach and that’s about all he is bringing to the Illini football table.
I thought the defense played okay after the 1st Quarter. They obviously weren't good but I'm not as angry as I was at the defense for the last three games in October. Martinez is a good QB and that Nebraska offense has been doing that to everyone since the second half of the Purdue game.
I actually liked the play of the DL. Roundtree is really becoming a solid DE and Avery is starting to become more disruptive. The second level defense....wow. Just so bad. Lots of underclassmen there, though. Really need some quality Defensive staff hires.
Special teams and TOs really killed us today. The dropped passes were killers as well. Bush was kind of meh but he's at his 4th college in 5 years for a very good reason.
Rod Smith was an amazing hire. The run blocking was also great today.
I actually liked the play of the DL. Roundtree is really becoming a solid DE and Avery is starting to become more disruptive. The second level defense....wow. Just so bad. Lots of underclassmen there, though. Really need some quality Defensive staff hires.
Special teams and TOs really killed us today. The dropped passes were killers as well. Bush was kind of meh but he's at his 4th college in 5 years for a very good reason.
Rod Smith was an amazing hire. The run blocking was also great today.
Would’ve been convient for us to have a player who can catch the damn ball
If you really think Nebraska is just some 2 win team then you don't watch football.
Likes:
jaked1121 and KevinC
Our offensive is pretty amazing considering the wide receivers don't have any hands.
We might score 70 points a game if we had WRs who could catch.
We might score 70 points a game if we had WRs who could catch.
- DeKalb
I’m going to keep saying it Sydney Brown is not ready yet to be a starter at safety in the Big Ten he constantly bites on plays. And eyes stay on the QB to long. No way you should let a tight end get behind you in the end zone
I just got done watching the game. A few observations.
1) Need to find WR that can catch a freaking football. A couple of those drops make me wonder why these kids have scholarships to play the position. It has been an issue all year.
2) Defense performed as well as I expected against what is becoming a very good offense at NE. If you watched UCF last year you know Frost’s offense will be a force to be reckoned with in the years to come.
3) AJ Bush is not a dual threat QB. He can run and that is it. Once adjustments are made to stop him from running he is lost out there.
4) We will be lucky to keep RSmith as our OC. Someone will see his scheme and play calling ability and he will see that there are a lot of other programs with much more talent that can further his career. Gut feeling he is a free agent after next year anyways as I don’t have a lot of hope for the “progression” of this program under Lovie. So probably irrelevant.
Get through the next two games and hope Lovie and staff can get signatures from top recruits or it will be deja vu.
1) Need to find WR that can catch a freaking football. A couple of those drops make me wonder why these kids have scholarships to play the position. It has been an issue all year.
2) Defense performed as well as I expected against what is becoming a very good offense at NE. If you watched UCF last year you know Frost’s offense will be a force to be reckoned with in the years to come.
3) AJ Bush is not a dual threat QB. He can run and that is it. Once adjustments are made to stop him from running he is lost out there.
4) We will be lucky to keep RSmith as our OC. Someone will see his scheme and play calling ability and he will see that there are a lot of other programs with much more talent that can further his career. Gut feeling he is a free agent after next year anyways as I don’t have a lot of hope for the “progression” of this program under Lovie. So probably irrelevant.
Get through the next two games and hope Lovie and staff can get signatures from top recruits or it will be deja vu.
Likes:
Joel Goodson and pruman91
It’s truly remarkable how many yards and points the offense continues to rack up despite the marginal QB and WR play.
- Geneseo, IL
The defense was terrible today. The first drive for Nebraska was three plays 77 yards. Second drive about the same. I agree the punt fumbles were egregious but they gave up 600 yards again. Occasionally your defense needs to win a game for you. They are pretty much bad every week.
Likes:
Odog123
Dude. Come on. How can you not get what I mean.
They lost to Ohio State by 5 last week. Their offense has been great ALL season especially since Martinez has been back. They were 17 point favorites. They won by 19. What exactly were you surprised about? Not sure how anyone with decent football knowledge can look at a team's record and think "oh they're 2-7 so they MUST stink." You always look deeper than at just the record. Did your expectations really change that much just because we beat Minny? Come on man.
They lost to Ohio State by 5 last week. Their offense has been great ALL season especially since Martinez has been back. They were 17 point favorites. They won by 19. What exactly were you surprised about? Not sure how anyone with decent football knowledge can look at a team's record and think "oh they're 2-7 so they MUST stink." You always look deeper than at just the record. Did your expectations really change that much just because we beat Minny? Come on man.